The USS Monterey in Sea Trials

By Patrick McSherry

The image shows the forward deck of the MONTEREY
while she was undergoing sea trials in San Francicso Bay in January of
1893. The deck is awash because she is in "fighting trim." The vessel was
provided with trim tanks that, when filled with water, would lower the
vessel in the water until she had only a few inches of freeboard. This
would reduce her size as a target, and the water would act as "additional
armor" protecting her below decks. The shed-like structure was a temporary
structure built over the forward hatch.

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